Okay, this art thing is hard. I seem to be spending a lot of time at it, and making a big mess, but not much artistic achievement has happened yet. I like to think that the art itself is incubating, and will soon spring fully-formed to life. Even though the art is slow, I have to say I’m surprised by how quickly and spontaneously the room has transformed itself into a studio.
Okay, now I’m going to show you some pictures of the art in progress. Please don’t laugh at me.
I did my background layer in scraps of newspaper on an 8×10 canvas, and then did a clear gesso and ochre acrylic layer over it, so the newsprint still shows through.
Then I photoshopped a photo I took last summer. I’m new at photoshop (I’m on the 30-day free trial), so that involved a lot of over-the-top experimentation, which took many many hours of pushing buttons and then selecting “un-do.” I finally got something I liked in a freaky kind of way, and printed a 4×6 photo to use as the focal point of my collage.
Okay, here’s where I hit a wall. I have a book that gives the following simple instructions for transferring an inkjet image to another background.
“Print your image onto photographic-quality paper. Apply a thin, even coat of soft gel medium to the area onto which you want to transfer the image, and place the ink-jet image facedown onto the gel. Using a brayer, apply even pressure to the back of the image, and let it sit for approximately two to three minutes. Test the transfer by pulling back a corner and checking to see if the image has transferred onto the gel. If the image has transferred, continue to peel off the paper.”
THE END. It doesn’t say what to do if the image HASN’T transferred. Which it hasn’t. I assume you’re supposed to give it more time if it hasn’t transferred. Well I’ve given it 24 hours, and it hasn’t transferred. It’s stuck down there pretty good now…even if it were to transfer now, I don’t think I could ever peel the paper off.
I made a second experimental attempt with a different background: a piece of white card stock coated with a layer of gesso. Same result.
Maybe photographic-quality paper and photo paper are not the same thing? I printed the photo on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper. Or maybe it really does have to be soft gel medium. I’m using medium gel medium.
Meanwhile, I’ve been digging through my basement finding stuff that could be used for art. I kind of wish I hadn’t decluttered and thrown so much stuff away, because now I want it all back. I want that newspaper from October 3, 1978. I want all those old flyers and ticket stubs and keys and watch faces and magazines and swizzle sticks and broken jewelry. I had excellent clutter.
Still, I have come across LOTS of stuff that I can use. It’s a bit overwhelming, really. I don’t want to use any of the really good one-of-a-kind stuff yet while I’m still experimenting, because so far I’ve just made a mess of everything I’ve used.
I’ve cut some pictures out of magazines and from cards, and I’ve endlessly arranged and re-arranged them on the 8×10 canvas. But it’s just not falling into place, so I haven’t glued anything down yet. Part of my problem is I like some of the newspaper headlines in my background layer, so I don’t want to cover them up. But then it seems like the foreground layer is being arranged around elements in the background layer, which makes it look all wrong.
I did this too, on a 4×6 canvas. It’s a watercolour background, and something will end up on top of it one of these days. I hope. Here’s one possibility for a starting point…I kind of like this.
The problem with art is that the possibilities are endless. That’s what’s slowing me down. I find it hard enough to choose between a finite number of options. Give me an infinite number, and I get lost in the possibilities.
Anyway, when I posted about becoming an artist, I honestly thought I’d be back in a couple of hours to show you my collage. Instead, here I am, days later, showing you pictures of background layers. Since collage is all about layers, the finished product might take awhile. And it might be really crappy. But I’ll post a picture anyway, because fortunately I never said I was going to be good at art.
its a good start, seeing how i’m not creative at all.
I am really impressed…love the photo shop picture and the woman reclining. I really didn’t know you had it in you…can’t wait to see the final products
Well, I think you are doing great! I’ve never heard of an artist who created something within a couple of hours. Okay, I might have heard of them, but I know they fiddle around with their work afterwards because they aren’t really pleased with it. In my opinion art is a work in progress and creating, adding, replacing, removing and switching things around is all part of that process. So take all the time you need and you’ll end up with something you’ll really like.
Sounds like you are doing very well to me. Good Luck – You will get there in the end.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Deb, I’d love to take credit for her, but I didn’t actually create the reclining lady – I just cut her out of a magazine.
Dakota – I read a quote the other day about poetry: “A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” Maybe it’s the same thing with art.
The Crackhouse picture is terrific. Is that actually written on the sign? (Either way it is terrific.)
David, it really was written on the sign. You can see the original photo on my June 26th post.
So you want to transfer inkjet to something else!? Have you thought about using the admittedly commercial method for doing that? Transfer paper – used for making iron on t-shirt designs, etc. They have the stuff for dark background material and light background material – who knows? might be just what the doctor ordered.
I suspect that your gel medium is fine.. but your ink is the result of the markets continued effort to crank out reliable colrfast PERMANENT inks – like the DurBright Inks that Epson uses now. Of course this can be good for you too. If you cantransfer as noted above your image won’t go bizarre on you thefirst moisture you get near it.
Another thought – don’t just sit around waiting for your muse to show up – pick a purposeful project and DO it! This can be a very useful way to break the muse embargo.
Keep on keepin’ on
John – itinerate artist and tech wizard
Aha! Thank you so much John for stopping by and especially for solving my ink jet transfer mystery. I think you’re right: I am using Epson ink.
I’ll pick up some transfer paper this afternoon, and try your method.
As for your other point about waiting for the muse…what do you mean by “pick a purposeful project”? (I know what that means in knitting or cooking, for example, but art seems to be more about creating something from nothing without any pattern. So how do you pick a project?)
I’m not sure if this is what John means, but maybe it’s like da Vinci saying “today I’ll paint a portrait of Mona Lisa”, rather than saying “let’s see what I get inspired to do today”.
Sorry for the delay in response – had other things happening. Too much muse, not enough resources – but that’s solved now. David has it exactly – there is an old expression – “People who are self-reliant and positive, who undertake their work with the assurance of success, magnetize their condition. They draw to themselves the creative powers of the universe.” Goethe said “Whatever you can do, or dream you can…begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!” It is not that your art needs to be defined but rather it’s reason for existance, the thing that gives your purpose in doing it. Da Vinci did fabulous things artistically and his art merged with his studies and his science, yet all was done with a sense of purpose. Earl Nightingale, in many ways the father of modern motivational speaking and co-founder of the Nightingale Connaught motivational materials empire, said that to count yourself a success your must simply be in deliberate pursuit of a worth goal.
Thanks again John – I’m still wrapping my head around what you’re saying, but I think I’m kind of a little bit starting to get it.